Five Bees in Double Digits in Win Over Barat

Boxscore

By Ryan Holtmann

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Nail biter?  To say the least.  The No. 18 St. Ambrose Fighting Bees opened up their season on the road against the Barat Bulldogs and when the final buzzer sounded, they were not sure if they had won or not.

The Bees, who led or were tied with the Bulldogs the entire game, went up by three with ten seconds to go after Matt Fitzpatrick hit his second of two free throws.

Bulldogs guard Curtis Andrews dribbled the ball up the court and after a few moves, he created an open shot from about 19 feet.  The shot went in.  The Bulldogs bench erupted, the Fighting Bees bench erupted.  

So was it overtime or a Bees victory?

From the moment the shot hit the net, the official closest to the ball signaled that the shot was a two-point bucket, and the game went in the Fighting Bees favor, 89-88 in front of a packed Hilton Gym.

The game would have been tied had Andrews been a few inches behind the 19'9" three-point line.

The Bees jumped out to an early 20-11 lead to start the game when Karl Petersen put in a missed three-point shot by Chad Tancil.

The Bulldogs hung around, and closed to within as many as three before halftime.  But the Bees went on a run that put them ahead by seven entering halftime.

To start the second half off, Bees forward Brett Jacobs had two lay-ups sandwiched around a lay-up by the Bulldogs Antwan Collins.  That put the Bees up by nine, :39 into the half.  

Then the Bulldogs went on a 12-3 run, capped by a John Foster lay-up, which tied things up at 53 a piece.  

The Bulldogs would not be able to obtain the lead, but stuck around and never trailed by more than seven the remainder of the game, and battled to within one on Andrews' shot at the buzzer.

Leading all scorers was Petersen, who had 21 points and 11 boards.  Petersen was one of the five Fighting Bees starters who was in double figures.  

Jacobs added 20 points, five rebounds and four assists.  Point guard Matt Fitzpatrick put in 16 points and a game high nine assists.

Also in double figures were Ryan Johnson, who had 10 points and five rebounds and Chad Tancil, who also had 10 points.  Tancil also grabbed three rebounds and added three assists.

The Bulldogs also had five players in double figures with Foster leading the way with 19 point and five boards.  Andrews had 17, Jonathan Tate added 12.  

Collins put in 14 points and 7 rebounds with E.J. Avery adding 11 points, four rebounds and three blocks for the Bulldogs.

The Fighting Bees will have their home opener this Tuesday night against the Trinity International Trojans.  The game is set to tip-off at 7:30 p.m.

The Fighting Bees and Bulldogs will meet again Friday night in the second game of the St. Ambrose Classic at Lee Lohman Arena.  The game is set to tip-off at 7:30 p.m. or 20 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

The first game of the Classic will match Grand View and Bethel (IN) at 5:30 p.m.

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